> The last few books I've picked up since May have been put down again without being finished, because I lost interest in the stories or because I couldn't take any more lameness. Mike and I have rented a few movies which we have rewound without watching until the end. In all, this summer's diversions in the film and book departments have been mundane and disappointing.
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> Except for the times I re-read old favorites such as "HHGTTG" and "The Screwtape Letters."
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> Please, someone recommend a good movie or book, so that the rest of the year won't be as drab as my summer!

Recent movies I've watched:

The Seven Samurai: thumbs up. A 1954 classic, and the progenitor of several later action-movie traditions. That said, it's quite unlike a contemporary action or martial arts movie. The pacing is slow; the first hour and a half or so is somewhat tedious. (It's a LONG movie; we watched it in two sittings.) It deals more with characterization and an examination of class roles in Japan than it does with samurais in battle. I hear it's now available on DVD, so if you have a DVD player, that would be the medium of choice.

The Emperor's New Groove: thumbs up. Not a classic or even the germ of one, but still fun. It doesn't follow the standard Disney formula; its comedy depends a lot on sheer zaniness and self-referential humor. Weird, fun and weird some more.

Final Fantasy: thumbs sideways. As a movie, it's a great big "eh, *shrug*". As a technology demo, it's worth seeing if you can catch it at the dollar theatre. I found it revealing that the official book on the making of FF has on its cover, not an action sequence full of lights and explosions, but a close-up of the main character's facial texture. They're pretty proud of what they've done with creating realistic-looking humans, and rightly so.

Recommended books:

_A Confederacy of Dunces_, by John Kennedy Toole: The most gut-busting farce I've ever laid eyes on. There's no good way to describe _Confederacy_; you just have to read it at some point.

_All the King's Men_, by Robert Penn Warren: One of my favorite novels. A broad, reflective look at human nature wrapped in a readable story about the ascendance and eventual fall into corruption of the governor of an unnamed Southern state. Leaves me with a melancholy, wistful, cathartic feeling.

_White Noise_, by Don DeLillo: A humorous look at the angst felt by middle-aged, suburban white people entering the postmodern age. Takes a "haha, only serious" sort of approach.

_The Modern Mind: an Intellectual History of the Twentieth Century_, by Peter Watson: I've started reading this bit by bit on successive visits to Borders :-) and am now on Chapter 4. Very interesting and accessible summary of the (mostly scientific) intellectual developments of the past century.

_Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone_, by J.K. Rowlings: Finally picked this one up yesterday, and will probably finish it today or tomorrow. Great fluff reading, lots of fun.

Iss "book 'im, Danno" achar